One More Star In the Sky
by Skyspring
Summary: As the 5th kit in a litter, she is weak and unwanted. As a med. cat apprentice, she struggles with every task. As an uncoverer of lost secrets, she travels to the forgotten hunting grounds of the spirits of her ancestors, were no one can bring her back.
1. Prolouge

_**Disclaimer: I do not own warriors**_

_**Please review!**_

**One More Star in the Sky**

**Prologue**

Come in, young kit, do not be shy. Yes, I can hear you there, trying to hide under that bush. Don't be so surprised, little one. I may be a blind old loner, but my hearing is as good as ever. Come, the moon is full and the night is ripe for story-telling. I know why you have come seeking me, and I can almost feel the questions trembling on the tip of your tongue, but now is not the time.

Hush! The stars are speaking to us. You are too young to understand, but one day you will. These are hard times for you and your clan, I know, but everything will come right. How does an old loner like me know of such things? Trust me, little one, there is still much, much more that you must learn. And I know many, many more things than I would be able to pass on in the time that is left to me. Do not feel alarmed, death is not something to be feared. But never mind that, you are still very young. You have many moons still before you, and plenty of time to learn.

Now, I can feel the night growing old. Put aside your questions and listen. I have a story for you. This is not a story of great battles long past, or of great leaders that fought side by side with their loyal warriors. Those stories I will put aside for later. The tale I will tell you is a true one, and it took place in a distant land, many, many, moons of travel away from here. Yes, it was a very long time ago, long before your oldest elder's mother was kitted.

The tale begins in uncertain times, when the blood of many brave cats was spilled. Strong cats with a lust for battle were valued above all, and the noble ranks of SpiritClan, the ancestors of these cats, were all but forgotten. Wanderers, which is the name they gave to loners such as myself, were many in number. Most of them were the outcasts of the scattered clans that dotted the treeless plains were my tale takes place. One such wanderer, who was expecting kits, had been made an outcast from her own clan several moons earlier. When she realized that she was with kits, she knew that she could never survive on her own. And how would she protect her kits from the harsh winds and bitter cold of the long Leaf-Bare that was fast approaching? She traveled to the south, away from her old clan and the wilder conditions of the northern plains.

Weak and very close to kitting, she begged to be taken in by the first clan she came to. The leader, Coldspirit, saw that she was with kits and agreed to take her in as long as she gave her kits to the clan. Coldspirit was at war with a rival clan, and wanted to train as many battle-worthy warriors as possible. The desperate she-cat agreed, but never lived to see the results of her decision. The kits came early, and much to everyone's astonishment, there were five of them. Their mother was already weak and undernourished from moons out on the empty plains, and died soon after.

Coldspirit, however, was pleased to have so many new potential warriors in his clan. Four of the kits were strong and healthy, but the fifth worried him. She was small and weak, not fit to train. But he decided to see how things turned out.

And this, little one, is the story of that fifth kit. It is a story of survival, of trust and friendship, and of inner strength. But most of all, it is your story too. So huddle closer and watch as the tale unfolds.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own warriors**_

_**Please review!**_

**One More Star in the Sky**

**Chapter 1**

Sunpaw shivered in the cold morning air, her pale ginger fur still as light and fluffy as a kit's. She glanced up at the thick, wooly clouds that blanketed the sky to the west. In the east, the brilliant orange orb that was her namesake had not yet cleared the horizon. It seemed to glare defiantly down at the dreary late Leaf-Bare morning, its flare of color contrasting with the dull shades of the silent grasslands. She could see no resemblance between the sun's burning glory and her own tabby coat, the same hue as the sandy ground inside the circle of thorn bushes that was the RainClan camp. Still, that was what her mother had named her in the moon after kitting and before her death. Strangely, Sunpaw never felt any kind of stirring in her heart or sense of great sorrow when she thought about her mother. She felt oddly guilty about this, but didn't really know why. After all, she had never known her mother or even her name. Everyone said that after joining RainClan, She never told anyone her name or where she had come from. Sunpaw always thought about her with a strange sense of fascination, not the overwhelming sense of loss that her sister, Larkpaw, seemed to feel. Her other sister, Gingerpaw, simply said it was a shame. She didn't know what her brothers felt, because she had never asked them. She didn't really know her brothers, but there was nothing unusual about that. The she-cats and the toms slept in different dens after leaving the nursery.

"Sunpaw, come look at this!" Sunpaw whipped around, startled by the sudden appearance of Firpaw. She had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she hadn't seen the clan's newest apprentice come dashing into camp, his tail raised high and his eyes gleaming with excitement. _He must have been picked for the night watch last night_, she concluded. She couldn't help feeling a twinge of envy. She was a full moon older than Firpaw, but she still didn't have a mentor and had never been picked for watch or patrol.

"Come on, look what Windswift found last night! I wanted to tell everyone sooner, but she said we couldn't go back in to camp until dawn unless we spotted an enemy, and I asked if what we found was an enemy, and she said no because it was dead, and I asked if it was fresh-kill, and she said yes." Firpaw paused, out of breath. Sunpaw was glad that it was impossible for a cat to keep on talking forever, because if it were then surly Firpaw would never have stopped since the day he was kitted. She was not sure why, but something about him really got under her fur. This was another thing that she felt oddly guilty about without really knowing why. All of her clan mates seemed to like the friendly apprentice.

"All right, I'll come and see," she sighed. She had been hoping for a few moments alone before the rest of the clan woke up, but it was impossible to just ignore Firpaw. Still, maybe she could get rid of him somehow…. An idea struck her. "Firpaw, Thornheart said that he needed you for rabbit hunting. His patrol already left, but he said that you could catch up if you ran fast enough." This was, of course, complete fiction, and no doubt she would get in to trouble for it later, but Sunpaw couldn't help feeling satisfied with the lie. "They headed west," she added to complete the fabrication.

"Really?" Firpaw tilted his head, considering the story. "No one ever told me, and Thornheart usually isn't up this early unless he's leading the dawn patrol. Are you sure that's what he said?"

"Of course that's what he said! I'm not a total mousebrain!" She hissed. The image of Firpaw, wandering out on the endless plains and as lost as a kit without his mother, had flashed across her mind. The guilt of what she was about to do welled up inside her, making her feel like she had just swallowed a bad piece of prey. The sickening feeling roused her to sudden anger and she found herself wishing that she could chase Firpaw out of the camp with a hard bite to the tail. She tried to suppress the sudden urge, but it nagged at her like an itch she could not scratch.

"Well, okay. See you later!" Sunpaw blinked, realizing that Firpaw was leaving the camp. Should she call after him and tell him the truth; that she had only been trying to get rid of him? It sounded mouse-brained now. But he had already vanished through the tunnel of thorns that was the RainClan camp entrance. It was too late now.

Across the clearing, the branches of the warrior's den rustled and then parted. Sunpaw jumped guiltily when she realized that the brown tabby face peering out belonged to Thornheart, the RainClan deputy.

_**This chapter was kind of short, but don't worry. The next one will be a lot longer, and a lot of things are about to happen. Next chapter coming soon! **_


End file.
